Setting up with VMware ESX

Last updated: April 26. 2018

The software VMware ESX or ESXi is a virtualisation solution that is widely used in professional environments. This chapter describes how to import the virtual appliance Check_MK virt1 onto a VMware ESXi server version 5.0 or newer. This guide assumes that you have already installed and launched VMware ESXi on a server in your network and have also installed and launched the VMware vSphere Client on your computer.

To do this, first select the File menu on the the vSphere Client interface and then the menu item Deploy OVF template….

The dialogue box for importing appliances will then open. Now click on the button Browse… and select the OVA file you downloaded onto your hard drive before.

Confirm your selection by clicking on Next >. You will now be displayed a dialogue box with details on the selected appliance. In this case, Check_MK virt1 will be imported in version 1.0.1.

Continue by clicking on Next >. In the following dialogue box you can change the default name of the appliance. The appliance will appear with this name on your vSphere interface after importing.

Once you have entered the name you want, confirm by clicking on Next >. Finally, you will be displayed a confirmation dialogue box showing all the details that were just entered. You can put a tick below the text box if you wish to launch Check_MK virt1 directly after importing.
If all details are correct, confirm the import with Finish.

The deployment of Check_MK virt1 will now take place. Depending on the network connection between your computer and the ESX server, this may take a few minutes.

Once importing is complete, you can select Check_MK virt1 on the vSphere interface and go to the console, where a dialogue box asking which language you would like to use will appear during the launching process.

Check_MK virt1 is supplied with a virtual network interface of the type Intel PRO/1000 MT Server (82545EM), as this is compatible with the most common virtualisation solutions. On an ESX server it is recommended, for the sake of improving performance, to change the network interface card type to VMXNET 3.
You have now completed the VMware ESX specific steps and can continue with the [basic_configuration] of your appliance.